


From Senpai, With Love

by emmykay



Category: Ookiku Furikabutte | Big Windup!
Genre: Baseball, Character Study, Friendship, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-12
Updated: 2014-11-12
Packaged: 2018-02-25 01:59:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,363
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2604419
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/emmykay/pseuds/emmykay
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Shouma and Natsu need to find a way to work together.  Gan will see to that.</p>
            </blockquote>





	From Senpai, With Love

**Author's Note:**

> Because suddenlygamtav has the Shouma thirst and I reread that whole training camp arc because of it.

Shouma's in the locker room, doing up the last bit of his shirt after practice. He's got his head down, looking hard at the Tori logo, watching his fingers slip the buttons through the holes slowly.

Natsu is standing next to him, maybe too close, saying, "Shouma, you gotta think! This is your arm!" 

"I know," Shouma says, softly. Shouma likes Natsu, but he is so pushy. Always telling him what to do, on and off the field. Gan does that, too, but it's different.

"And if your arm's no good, then we lose!" Natsu's voice is hard and tense. Probably frustrated, too. "Are you listening?"

Shouma nods. He's heard this from Natsu before. Natsu knows what he's talking about. Natsu's a good catcher, everybody thinks so. Otherwise, he wouldn't be the backup behind Gan. It's still hard to listen. Natsu is really intense, hard like a stone.

"Kid," Gan says, throwing an arm over his shoulder, stepping in between him and Natsu.

Shouma can't help but lean a little into the one-armed embrace. Gan is so big and solid, his mere presence on the field is reassuring. But to have Gan actually put his arm around him like that - like they're friends, like Gan really likes him, likes being near him, likes touching him - Shouma finds it a little hard to breathe. It's only afterward that he realizes the other team members in the locker room might wonder about it, but if Gan doesn't care, he won't either.

Gan lifts up his other hand and pats Shouma's chest. "Let's talk."

Shouma looks up into his senior's dark eyes, blinks at the affection in there, and smiles, tremulously.

"How're you feeling?"

A worried noise slips from between Shouma's lips. The last practice game against Nishiura hadn't gone very well. Natsu must have told him. Everybody knew his pitching was a problem. He just wanted to make the A team so bad, to play with Gan. 

"I - I'm sorry, Gan-senpei - " his shoulders hunch, pulling in on themselves. "Natsu says - "

"Hush, Shouma," Gan says, his voice rumbling, low and warm. 

Shouma thinks he can feel the vibrations, through their uniforms, up against his skin. He likes it. "I - "

"You don't worry about that. I asked you how you were feeling."

A pause. "Good."

"I don't want you to hurt yourself, you understand? You're going to tell me if you even start to feel any kind of strain, okay?" Gan's big bare hand rubs Shouma's shoulder, unhurried, hypnotic.

Shouma nods slowly. It feels so good. There is something truly calming about Gan's touch. He can feel the tightness in his neck disappear.

Gan's voice is scolding, but somehow, it's still reassuring. "You've got plenty of time to recover. Hiding when it starts to hurt only makes it worse. Don't worry about disappointing me, okay? You're the most important person. You're the ace. You're MY ace. I want you to play as well as you can, for as long as you want. That can't happen if you don't tell me how you're feeling. You understand?"

The nodding becomes emphatic.

"Good." Gan's voice is low, approving. A final, little tap on the chest from Gan's big hand. The hand that had caught so many of Shouma's pitches, good and bad. The hand that never failed. "Now, go and stretch with the other pitchers, but don't overdo it."

"Yes, Gan-senpai. Thank you, Gan-senpei!" Shouma says, running out of the locker room, eyes alight.

* * *

"Now, Natsu," Gan says.

The younger catcher freezes in midflight, all set to flee behind Shouma. He watches as Gan crosses his big arms over his barrel chest. "I'm talking to you, catcher to catcher. What're you doing?"

Self-conscious, Natsu said, "I'm just talking to Shouma. Like you."

The message in the look Gan is giving him is clear; nobody's buying that. "You were scolding him like he's a bad dog. You can't do that!"

"But I'm worried - !" Natsu blurts.

"We're all worried," Gan reaches over and lightly smacks the back of Natsu's head. "Sure the game is important, but his well-being is more important. You've got to talk to him like you care about him."

"I do!" Natsu burst out. Then his cheeks blaze hotly. _Nobody can know!_ Especially Gan. He tries to recover. "I know how important he is! I know his elbow and shoulder hurt him a lot more than he says it does!"

Sighing, Gan leans up against the lockers. "I know you've been talking to him, Natsu. But you gotta feel for the pitcher, okay? Think about how to treat him well. Pitchers need a lot of support. Being hard and pushing them doesn't work. Neither does not talking to him."

Natsu works his jaw, wordlessly. He wants to speak out, but Gan's seniority and superior knowledge preclude him from argument. 

"You did good pulling him from the game. His arm should have rested longer. Thanks for telling me about it." 

The younger catcher tips his head, unable to accept the praise. "He's got this huge barrier to me and I can't get in - I just don't know how you do it so that he gets it!" "

"You saw what I did. That is how you talk to a pitcher like Shouma. You can do that." Gan places himself in front of Natsu and stares at him.

"I'm trying," Natsu protests. Then, he just gets to the heart of the matter. "Shouma wants you to catch for him, not me." Natsu wonders how Gan's eyes can be so soft on Shouma and yet so flinty with him.

Baldly, Gan says, "I want to play with Shouma, too. He's our ace and my pitcher and if he takes care of himself, he'll be on the A team with me. And it'll be a good season." Suddenly, Gan's eyes droop downward, tired. "You've got to understand there's what I want and there's what will happen. You know this is my last year. In the end, I have to leave Shouma to you. You've got two more years with Shouma, to build a real battery with him, get on the A team."

Natsu opens his mouth, but he's cut off by Gan's hand coming down across his shoulders, drawing him up against that big, warm body. 

"I know you've been trying to talk to him. Take care of him. I see how hard you're working. He'll get that, soon. Treat him like you care and he'll carry you to the end of his strength. You understand?"

Natsu stares at the floor. He wants to resist, but ends up melting into the senior's side. He nods, slowly. "Yes, Gan-senpai."

"Good." Gan releases Natsu, and then punches him on the shoulder, hard enough to rock him back on his heels. "You keep this up and we'll go check out some Koshien games with some of the other catchers, talk strategy, okay?"

Natsu knows it's a condescension, but he's willing to take it. 

"Now, get out there. Don't let this get you down. You'll get it."

Natsu trots off, but he can't help a quick over-the-shoulder look. Gan is acting like he didn't just lay out his heart, the way he's humming under his breath as he adjusts his uniform.

God. Natsu is aware of the heat in his cheeks, but he doesn't care. He wants to be just like Gan-senpai. Someday.

* * *

Gan waits until Natsu is completely out of the locker room before finishing putting on his own gear. They're both good kids. Shouma, the sweetest, most nervous kid. A little quiet. A good arm if he takes care of it right. Gan hopes it's enough that he and Natsu are on Shouma's case. As for Natsu - that mouth and attitude Gan can remember fitting into like a second skin. 

This whole season, he has tried to make those two kids listen to each other. They need each other. They like each other well enough. A little bit of gelling and they should be a fit battery. They just need a nudge, an example.

He has done his best. Like his own senpai. He smiles. He thinks, hopes, wonders if, Suzuki-senpai would be proud of him.


End file.
